In the sport of hunting, a commonly used strategy is for the hunter to secure a position from which the prey may be observed while the hunter remains unnoticed. Many types of shelter, blind or camouflage are used for this purpose.
A particularly useful device employed is a hunter's tree stand which permits the hunter not only to be unobserved, but also to be relatively comfortable for long periods of time. Such a device is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,417,645 and 4,452,338, both to Reese E. Untz. The stands described in these patents relate to hunter's devices for sitting in a tree while waiting for the designated prey to appear.
The function of camouflage in hunting is well established. Even though the tree stands discussed above are placed above the line of sight of most animals, the hunter will ordinarily take special precautions to conceal himself. The commercially available stands are sold in a nonreflective black painted finish. Regardless of the stand's color and finish, the hunter will typically paint spots of green and brown to more completely blend the stand to the background woods.
A typical model hunter's stand is sold by the BuckShot Company of Wilmington, N.C. under the name of PortaClimb. In addition to a non-reflective finish, this stand is equipped with a cushioned cover for each arm to protect against the arm being accidentally hit by a hard object and making a noise. Such a noise could reveal the location of the hunter.
While the hunter may be reasonably comfortable when seated in the stand, he requires means to store such things as food, drink, field glasses or a raincoat in addition to storage provided by his pockets or a backpack. He often remains in a particular location for many hours. Both pockets and a backpack have serious limitations. Pockets are normally limited in size and capacity, and a backpack is awkward to access while in a seated position.
There is presently a bag on the market which is useful to a hunter for storing and accessing supplies. It is sold by Trophy Hunter Products, Inc. of Townville, S.C. 29689. The Trophy Hunter bag does not satisfy all the objectives below because it is closed by means of a zipper, it does not have an opening covering closure flap, and it utilizes fabric straps with buckles to hang from an arm of the hunter's stand. The effect of these drawbacks and the relative improvement provided by the present invention will be described below.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an equipment container for a hunter which may be attached to a hunting stand.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a container which will be easy to access while the hunter is in a tree stand.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a container which may be utilized without causing noticeable noise.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container which will not be visually noticeable in use.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent through the disclosure and claims which follow.